In recognition for his work with the My Neighbor in Need(MNIN) program, which is sponsored by Montana Farmers Union, Dave Snuggs of Great Falls was awarded the the Spirit of Montana Award by Congressman Greg Gianforte.

My Student in Need, a division of My Neighbor in Need, begins its 6th-year of service, on Tuesday, August 27. “Today we celebrate our 6th year of providing hope to our students in need,” said Dave Snuggs, Founder of My Neighbor in Need. “We stand ready to answer the call for help from any teacher or school administrator in our network of over 160 schools in 31 cities.”

At the start of the 2018/2019 school year, My Student in Need is now available in throughout Montana and in nine cities in Wisconsin. “It is hard to imagine that what started out as an idea written on a dinner napkin in 2013 continues to help thousands of students in need,” Snuggs said.

At the end of the 2016/2017 school year, My Student in Need had completed a total of 2,578 need fulfillments.

The website and system are the creation of Great Falls resident, Dave Snuggs, and through a partnership with numerous school districts, allows for selected School Teacher/Administrators to submit a request for help with a specific need, such as school supplies, clothing, lunch money, etc. for their Students in Need. Need requests are posted live on the website where anyone in the world can review them and offer help to fulfill the request in an anonymous setting. The only information provided to the staff at My Student in Need by the School Administrator is the age, gender, grade, school and the details of the need request.

The original My Student in Need and My Neighbor in Need systems were developed by Tom Penwell of Tom’s Web Designs in 2012. 406 Marketing and Design, designed and manages both www.myneighborineed.org and www.mystudentinneed.org websites and current systems. www.mystudentinneed.org is available for free to any school wishing to help their students.

Last year, a day after Christmas tragedy struck for one family in the Sun Prairie area. A chimney fire sent the family of nine running from the home in the middle of the night. Luckily everyone escaped without injuries but unfortunately, they did lose some valuables. But of course, the people of Cascade County stepped up to help this family.

www.myneighborineed.org a revolutionary and proprietary website that provides local citizens a way to ask for help from their community and a way for the community to give back has formed a strategic alliance with Saint Vincent De Paul, Great Falls.

Created by Great Falls resident, Dave Snuggs, and launched on March 20, 2012, My Neighbor in Need has completed over 9,900 need fulfillments. “Although we are very close to completing 10,000 need fulfillments, the requests for help show no signs of slowing down,” Snuggs said. “When someone is need, time is critical. We needed to create a new system that would Help More People, Faster so we asked ourselves what other social service organization best mirrors our mission and beliefs while having the capacity to Help More People – Faster. The answer was easy…. Saint Vincent De Paul.”

The strategic alliance will allow both organizations to continue to operate independently, each focused on their own specific mission and goals, however Saint Vincent De Paul will help to fulfill need requests submitted directly by My Neighbor in Need.

Effective October 9, when My Neighbor in Need has a verified and approved need request for a bed, couch or other piece of furniture or equipment, they will immediately call Saint Vincent De Paul and if that item is available, the neighbor in need will receive a voucher for that specific item. The item will be held for that person at Saint Vincent De Paul. “The neighbor in need could literally leave our office with a voucher for a bed, drive to Saint Vincent De Paul and pick-up their bed and be off the cold floor that same day, Snuggs said. “By eliminating the hours, we would spend each day driving, we now can spend that time vetting more need requests and together, we (My Neighbor in Need and Saint Vincent De Paul) can Help More People – Faster!”

If at any time the needed item is not available at Saint Vincent De Paul, or if it is a financial need request such as assistance with purchasing a bus pass, car repair, fuel-only gift card, etc., then the need request would be posted on www.myneighborinneed.org in hopes that an anonymous donor would contact My Neighbor in Need and offer to help fulfill that need.

My Neighbor in Need, My Student in Need, the Community Coat Closet and the Free Pet Food Pantry will continue to operate inside Times Square; however with the launch of the new strategic alliance, the thrift store will be closed. “Having Saint Vincent De Paul help us to fulfill non-financial needs means we can eliminate the costs associated with operating a thrift store and use that money to Help More People – Faster.”

Great Falls, MT: My Student in Need, a division of My Neighbor in Need, begins its 5th-year of service, on Wednesday, August 30. “Today is the first day of school and it is no coincidence that today begins our 5th year of service,” said Dave Snuggs, Founder of My Neighbor in Need. “Once again, thanks to the community’s kindness, we are ready to answer the call for help.”

At the start of the 2017/2018 school year, My Student in Need is now available in 161 schools in 29 cities. “It is hard to imagine that what started out as an idea written on a dinner napkin in 2013 is now available to help thousands of students in need throughout Montana,” Snuggs said.

At the end of the 2015/2016 school year, My Student in Need had completed a total of 2,138 need fulfillments.

The website and system is the creation of Great Falls resident, Dave Snuggs, and through a partnership with numerous school districts throughout Montana, allows for selected School Teacher/Administrators to submit a request for help with a specific need, such as school supplies, clothing, lunch money, etc. for their Students in Need. Need requests are posted live on the website where anyone in the world can review them and offer help to fulfill the request in an anonymous setting. The only information provided to the staff at My Student in Need by the School Administrator is the age, gender, grade, school and the details of the need request.

Once the need request has been received by the staff at My Student in Need, the request is posted live on the website where anyone in the world can offer to help fulfill that need. The donor and the Student in Need – never meet.

The original My Student in Need and My Neighbor in Need systems were developed by Tom Penwell of Tom’s Web Designs in 2012. 406 Marketing and Design, designed and manages both www.myneighborineed.org and www.mystudentinneed.org websites and current systems. www.mystudentinneed.org is available for free to any school wishing to help their Students.

On Monday, “My Neighbor In Need” in Great Falls celebrated five years of helping people, as well as two new partnerships.

The program is teaming up with Leadership Great Falls and Mergenthaler Transfer & Storage.

My Neighbor In Need lets people register a need on its website, and enables people to fulfill the need anonymously through donated goods or services, or money.

Dave Snuggs, who created the program, says the idea to provide the service came to him many years ago before the right computer program was available.

Snuggs explained, “I’m working back in North Carolina, and I have an employee that has needs of things, and I started thinking, what if there was a way to ask for help, and he says, ‘How do you ask for help?’ It was a pride issue. And I thought, what if there’s a way you could privately ask for help.”

www.myneighborineed.org a revolutionary and proprietary website system that provides local citizens a way to ask for help from their community and a way for the community to give back is celebrating their 5-year anniversary.

Created by Great Falls resident, Dave Snuggs, and launched on March 20, 2012, My Neighbor in Need has completed almost 9,000 need fulfillments. “Today we celebrate the power of kindness and generosity that is alive in our backyard! And today, we once again demonstrate that it does not take a lot to do a lot,” Snuggs said. “What started out as the simple idea of anonymous giving has grown into a movement encompassing other social services needed by members of the community including www.mystudentinneed.org, the free Pet Food Pantry and the Give What You Can Community Thrift Store.”

In five years, My Neighbor in Need has received over 11,000 requests for help and has fulfilled 81% of those requests. “I originally hoped that we would be able to fulfill about 200 needs per year. I never thought that we would fulfill 1,800 needs each year! On average, we fulfill about eight needs each day,” Snuggs said. “Although the website has been instrumental in connecting those in need with those willing to help, without the community supporting the mission of My Neighbor in Need, we would simply just be a website. I want to thank our sponsors, community partners, volunteers and most of all the caring individuals and organizations who every day wake up and make the choice to help a neighbor in need. Their compassion and dedication is without measure.”

www.myneighborinneed.org developed by Tom Penwell of Tom’s Web Designs, allows for anyone to ask for help with a specific need whether the need is for themselves or for someone else in their community by simply going to the website and completing the Request a Need form and clicking submit. If a person does not have access to the website to complete the form, they may call (406) 750-2542 and the form can be completed over the phone. In addition, the Request for a Need form can be completed inside the My Neighbor in Need office located inside Times Square at 525 Central Ave – Downtown Great Falls. My Neighbor in Need/My Student in Need is a 501c3, tax exempt, non-profit organization. Operational costs are underwritten by sponsorship from Montana Farmers Union, contributions from our Partners in Dignity, and general donations from individuals.

“I thought (the program) was interesting because there’s a whole lot of need in Belgrade and a lot of awesome people who want to help but don’t know how.”

Nearly 130 Belgrade students are homeless and far more struggle to obtain basic essentials like notebooks and pencils, socks or jeans.

Nicole Grafel has piles of backpacks, clothing and school supplies in her office to hand out to those kids whose families can’t quite make ends meet. The new homeless liaison and curriculum assistant for the district said people frequently drop off donations to help kids in need.

When low-income families are presented with the items, she said their reactions are both similar and simple.

This organization in Montana is helping meet the needs of underprivileged students discreetly and respectfully.

My Student In Need, a nonprofit that services schools across the state, runs an online program where teachers request necessities and other items their underserved students need, while others can offer to fulfill them. What’s more, the students’ identities are kept anonymous in the process.

Since the organization’s launch back in 2013, donors have filled more than 1,500 requests for students in need. The group’s goal is to help students get adequate resources without making them feel uncomfortable, Kim Wombolt, the organization’s executive director, told The Huffington Post.

“No person ― whether it’s a student or an adult ― likes to be in a position where they have to ask for help,” Wombolt said. “By providing a forum for students to get assistance without having to publish that they are, they can ask for help with dignity.”